He wanted to snarl and shred the bark on the nearest tree as he moved through the forest. The loss of this planet and his own people weighing heavy on his shoulders.
The largest meteor chunk landed here in the bay. So this is where they started their grim task. The primary populous on an island city was immediately devastated by the resulting tsunami, but there were still ample cities, as well as nature preserves, nearby that survived the crashing meteor. They'd already tranq'd numerous homo sapiens and creatures, like the hairy beast he just caught.
Viper hoped they'd be able to salvage enough of the population to prevent their wholesale extinction. The loss of another sentient race was a tragedy he couldn't bear.
The Homo sapiens or humans, were the sentient mammalian bipeds on the blue planet. They seemed to be lacking long range space technology or vehicles though they had other technology. They were much like the Anguis when they had only conquered the space between their prime planet and the moons.
The humans descended from a mammal where the Anguis did not, but both species still had a common genetic origin based on scans of the first humans rescued.
Long ago the Anguis learned that many of the sentient species across the galaxies were seeded by the same ancient DNA. Unfortunately what brought their prokaryote selves from planet to planet was also the same mode of transportation that brought the Morbo here now.
Despite it not being his prime mission, Viper had come across one of the people already. Collecting the Homo sapien wasn't too difficult. They were easy to sneak up on. All Viper had to do to collect the one male he and Mamba encountered in the woods, was walk up camouflaged to match the surrounding underbrush, then quietly tranq him from behind. The human never even suspected he was there.
"These poor creatures will be no match for the Morbo once they swarm land."
It was going to be the housing and transportation that got tricky with these people. Although that was the case for any of the species rescued from the Morbo, not just these humans. The Allied Council decided it was easiest to tranq sentient species that were never exposed to other races and keep them in stasis till a suitable colony could be set-up.
Viper didn't relish the long arduous task of explaining to the humans the fate of their home planet, and those he was incapable of rescuing. This would be the second race he'd rescued who had no previous experience with species from other galaxies. That fact made the task twice as difficult.
Viper was glad his allies would soon join them. The Anguis would need the assistance seeing as he failed to stop the meteor. Thankfully most of his allies hadn't been far behind the Anguis fleet as they tracked the Morbo to this solar system. The members of the council would probably arrive at his ship, the Navis, before nightfall. They couldn't waste any time picking out a suitable planet in one of the secure territories for setting up the human refugee camp. It would be an arduous task, but it had to be done.
Viper glanced at the comm strapped to his wrist checking the time. He had a few hours more to explore this alien planet while it still flourished.
With his curved ungue claws bared at the tips of each finger, and the spiked clavum on each forearm extended ready to strike, Viper moved stealthily through the underbrush, his skin shifting to match the ruddy brown and green tones around him.
Although he wasn't so concerned with the human inhabitants, Viper still had to be cautious of the other wild creatures here. The animals hadn't lost use of their senses or their ability to hunt as the humans seemed to. One of the large feline's he and Mamba captured had been a master of stealth, a worthy adversary.
Although Viper was an adept hunter, he was alone at the moment, and knew better than to let his pride be his downfall on this unknown planet.
Viper sensed something was near. His gums tingled where the two procudit fangs extended. Even the osteoderms along his spine trembled as he walked the unusual forest landscape ready to do battle if necessary.
Viper stopped in his tracks. Unconsciously blending with the natural backdrop.
"What is that smell?"
A musky floral scent permeated the air of the forest floor. To this point he had smelled nothing but the ocean and the creatures they'd tranq'd. This smelled similar to one of the sentient beings but different.
Viper carefully broke through the tree line at the edge of a rocky hill and peered into the clearing.
Stopped on the road ahead was one of the crude metal vehicles these people operated. One of the homo sapiens sat with its head on the circle they used to navigate the vehicle.
Viper wondered if it was injured since this didn't seem the best place to sleep. He moved in cautiously. The enticing smell wafted from the lowered glass barrier of the vehicle drawing him closer.